The High Five

The Hunt Is On For A New FBI Director – Robert Mueller became FBI director just days before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Since then, he’s been the U.S. government’s indispensable man when it comes to national security.

County unveils scaled-back budget – Benton County budget officials are proposing a 2013-15 spending plan that is both leaner and has more cash reserves than the current budget, but it will take some job cuts, belt-tightening and a bump in local option levy collections to get there.

Obama to take sequester pay cut – President Obama will return 5 percent of his salary, retroactive to March 1, in a move intended to symbolize solidarity with federal workers being furloughed as part of the sequester, a White House official said Wednesday.

Wonkbook: This is what sequestration looks like – That’s how far the current level of employment is away from its level before the recession. At 200,000 per month, the U.S. will need 15 more months before it surpasses the old high — and that’s before considering growth in the labor force. More below.

East side squeaky wheel gets city’s funding grease – The squeaky wheel is getting more grease when it comes to city spending in East Portland. Neighborhoods east of 82nd Avenue and Interstate 205 are seeing more city dollars flow their direction, according to “budget maps” prepared by the city Office of Management and Finance.

Is the Secret to Success Really 10,000 Hours? Whether you’re writing computer code or hit songs, if you want to be as successful as Bill Gates or the Beatles, you might want to set aside 10,000 hours. At least that’s what Malcolm Gladwell suggested in his best-selling 2008 book, Outliers. The secret to success in any field is to practice a specific task for approximately 10,000 hours, he says.